Wizards-Heat Game 8 Recap: Reporting from the Crapper

At the end of game blog #8, I felt compelled to write this as a knee-jerk reaction:

Tinkering with the lineup. Starters. Bench players. Coaching. Hustle. Defense. Three pointers. Rebounds. None of it matters. The Washington Wizards are just not a good basketball team. I’m not giving up on anything, but I’m coming to terms with this concept and expectations for the upcoming games have been reduced to nothing.

Do I feel the same way today? The jury is still out. I certainly won’t staunchly stand by the theory that nothing matters…..of course a variety of factors add up to results. However, when it comes to the equation of Wizards and losing, I simply can’t put my finger on the root. Maybe I’m just looking to lower expectations in order to minimize disappointment. Either way, I’m at a loss. But I’ve invested a lot of time in this franchise over the years, and exponentially more in the past 14 months…..so, I’m not giving up on the team I love, neither now, nor ever.The Buzz:Eddie Jordan’s Quote (via The Washington Post):

“This team is built for Gilbert Arenas to lead us, this team is built for our all-star forwards to do certain offensive things for us and for Brendan Haywood to have a career year manning the middle for us,” Jordan said. “We don’t have those things. You’re asking people to do things that they are not capable of doing. They are not capable of carrying the load for us like a Dwyane Wade, like a Gilbert Arenas. You’ve got young guys who aren’t going to make veteran plays night in, night out. They’re going to be good here and there, so to be in the game is a credit to everyone in our organization right now. It’s eight games into the season and you’ve got to be positive but you’ve also got to be realistic about things. That’s where we are.”

Dan Steinberg, DC Sports Bog: Is he wrong? Not necessarily? But do fans want to hear their coach saying that “to be in the game is a credit to everyone in our organization,” and that the plan was to get a second consecutive career year from Brendan Haywood? Likely not.

JC, Stet Sports: The bus rolled by, and everybody got thrown under. When the coach in essence says, “we don’t have the players to make it happen,” you’ve got a problem. And because Jordan isn’t the one drafting and signing the players, its all going to fall down on him……..The Wizards can compete and win with the core of players they have now, but they just aren’t responding to Jordan anymore. As good as he is for this team, and as great as he has been for its development, its going to be hard to say goodbye, but it has to happen.

¿Qué

Wizards forward Andray Blatche is in his fourth NBA season, yet the team continues to stress that he needs to get into better physical condition. Prior to last night’s game, Coach Eddie Jordan was asked about Blatche’s up-and-down play through the season’s first seven games.

“We call it a dash and a flash but he’s certainly not consistent right now,” Jordan said. “From the time he got into the league, we’ve talked about his conditioning improving and he hasn’t gotten to the point where it’s where it should be, where he can sustain a high level of intensity and a high level of concentration.”[Conditioning Is Still An Issue for Blatche – The Washington Post]

Coach Eddie Jordan said after the game that starting McGee “is under consideration.” Obviously, something has to be done because the starters once again fell behind at the start of the game and again at the start of the third……Then again, the bigger issue is a lack of frontline NBA talent. From where I sit, this team currently has two legit starters (Butler and Jamison), some good young players who don’t know what they are doing (Young and McGee) and a bunch of role players. That sounds harsh but it’s true. The numbers don’t lie.[Ivan Carter, Wizards Insider]

Defensive intensity and high-energy execution on offense were the main areas the Wizards expected to change. Washington put forth a better effort, but it couldn’t compensate for its lack of healthy offensive weapons, seasoned veterans and athleticism in a 94-87 loss to the visiting Heat.[Mike Jones, The Washington Times]

If our starters don’t play that terribly to start the third quarter, we win that game. Plain and simple. So don’t blame Nick Young and Andray Blatche for this one, please. They don’t deserve it.[Pradamaster, Bullets Forever]

Meanwhile, the Wizards (who have played a grand total of three games this entire season, off memory) took in a
pair of tres efficient games from Antawn Jamison (25 points on 15 shots, 12 rebounds, four assists, zero turnovers) and Caron Butler (21 points on 12 shots, 12 boards), that’s not going to happen much, and they still lost at home to a Heat team that played well, but not that well.[Kelly Dwyer, Ball Don’t Lie]

It’s incredible Washington has only one victory, but with so many players in the training room, what should you expect. At one point, I thought I was back in Philly because of all the boos. Only time the crowd cheered was for this cat who mimics a sprinkler as a dance step and even gives the crowd a double bump pump fake. Dude is funny and well loved by the Verizon Center crowd.[Michael Tillery, Slam]

Is it bad that I can appreciate Shawn Marion’s play only in the context of the effect it may have on his trade value? I’m thinking it is, but I can’t get past it. Marion put up a solid 12 and 9 in a team-high 41 minutes. Did you see that, league? Not bad, right? He could totally help you.[Peninsula Is Mightier]

Just thinking out loud: If you could have Caron Butler straight up, right now, for Michael Beasley, would you do it? Judging by the extremely empty and quiet building Tuesday, the Wizards have to do something to pump up their crowd. Of course, the cap would make it impossible. (But Beasley already has a Nationals tattoo, so surely he could come up with a Wizards one.)[Ira Winderman, Sun-Sentinel]

When I spoke to Mario Chalmers this past summer he was in the midst of several NBA workouts trying to convince teams that he could play point guard in the NBA. At that time, he was projected to be drafted in the middle of the first round. In what had to be a huge disappointment Chalmers was drafted with by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round and he was later traded to the Heat. Four months later, he is now the starting point guard of the Heat and he played solidly this evening. In the third quarter alone he scored 10 points and handed out four assists. Unlike Dixon and Brown of the Wizards who struggled mightily, Chalmers did an excellent job of knowing when to pass, when to run the offense and went to score. He finished with 15 points and six assists.[Rashad Mobley, Hoops Addict]Looks like the cousin of Ball, Number, ain’t lying either.

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